2008 Inaugural Edition - 9/1/08
And here we are again. The inaugural issue of the 2008 season of my Weekly Musings. The self-proclaimed "biggest college football lover of all time" welcomes all the new subscribers, and welcomes back the familiar ones. This is my fourth year doing these musings, and they are now circulated to over 25,000 people. The expectations should be the same: Passionate coverage of all things college football; a heavy emphasis on USC; an intelligent disdain for the BCS; and complete dedication to the belief that college football is the greatest sport on the planet, and one of America's most unique and extraordinary possessions. Without further adieu, the opening weekend is behind us, and here goes the musings:
- One can make a lot of money betting against Oregon State in September, and for Oregon State in November. Congrats to Stanford. See you Nov. 15.
- What a nice weekend for the ACC. Wow. I am reasonably sure that me and my church leaders could win the conference this year. Aside from USC's carving up of Virginia on their home field, and Clemson being destroyed by Alabama on a neutral field, and NC State being shut out by South Carolina, the conference also witnessed North Carolina barely beat McNeese State, and Maryland barely beat Delaware. If Florida State can't win the conference this year (which I suspect they will, hands down), then Seminole fans shouldn't wait any longer for Bobby Bowden's "retirement".
- Tim Tebow is just an incredible young man. The special ESPN Game Day did on him Saturday morning was extraordinary. I suspect that his stats will not be as big as they were last year, possibly jeopardizing a repeat Heisman performance, but this guy is not only a stud on the field, but a hero off of it. It is too bad he went to that God-forsaken state to play football.
- Willingham needs 8 wins to keep his job at Washington this year, in my opinion. I don't see it happening. I have tried and tried to believe in him, as I remain very impressed with what he did at Stanford a decade ago, and believe he was wrongly fired at Notre Dame. But he is running out of time, and their performance the other night against Oregon did nothing to make me think they were going to hit 8-4 this year.
- Nothing says "BcS" like LSU playing a 1-AA team, Ohio State playing Youngstown, Georgia playing Georgia Southern, Auburn playing Monroe, and Oklahoma playing Chattanouga. Now, Virginia is nothing special this year, but they were 9-3 last year, and our other non-conference games are Ohio State and Notre Dame. I will never respect the SEC while they are playing high school teams in non-conference.
- Two ranked teams that will not be ranked at the end of the year: Clemson and Tennessee. Two unranked teams that will be ranked at the end of the year: Cal and South Carolina.
- On to the USC game. Where do I even start? I really would have to stretch to come up with anything wrong that the Trojans did. The line was outstanding. Sanchez was Heisman-esque. The running backs were unstoppable. The defensive pressure was insane. Besides one bad pass by Sanchez (literally - one), and one stupid fumble by McKnight, it was nearly a flawless effort by the men of Troy.
- Sanchez is not just an unbelievably gifted Quarterback. He has a 3.5 GPA, and his father is a role model. Watch out for this kid. He is one of the special ones.- If Sanchez does this thing, and actually plays out a full season with the precision and success I expect him to, I am pretty sure it will be an NCAA record for sustained QB dominance at a program. From Palmer to Leinart to Booty, and now to Sanchez, it is unheard of for teams to keep their train running through so many different people at QB.- There are just so few players in all of college football that you can say this about, but while Joe McKnight has a ways to go until Reggie Bush comparisons are close to warranted, he does share this in common with Reggie: a surreal excitement that overcomes you whenever he gets the ball with space, knowing that almost anything can happen. Few players actually have the ability to make lemonade out of lemons. Reggie is the best I ever saw in this regard; but Joe has it too.- I am going to say this right now: Ray and Cush are unbelievable, violent, special linebackers. But teams will ignore Clay Matthews to their own peril. One of the more underrated players I have seen in a while.- It goes without saying that USC fans do not have much to go on yet in knowing about this team. Virginia may just be a totally unreliable barometer. But Ohio State will not be. This should be a war. I am glad we have the bye for the extra preparation, but depressed that I have to wait so long for the game. I think Ohio State is a top national team, but on the other hand, they only played two good teams last year: A LSU team that killed them in the championship, and an Illinois team that beat them on Ohio State's home field (shortly before USC beat Illinois by a thousand points in the Rose Bowl). They have a lot to gain in beating a national powerhouse like USC on the road; we have a lot to say about this team in beating them.- I am going to wait another game or two to express my opinions about our tailback rotation. I have been concerned in the past that trying to play three or four guys just does not work (tempo, momentum, energy, etc.). I have absolutely no doubt that Allen Bradford, our fourth string running back, would start for every single team in the country. The plethora of men we ran on the field on Saturday worked quite well. So we shall see. CJ Gable is just too good not to have out there, and Joe McKnight provides that game-changing big-strike possibility on every play. Stefon and Allen are incredible, and I think I may come around on this rotation idea this year. Give me a week or two.- Our receivers are going to be much better this year than last year - period. Hazelton, Turner, RoJo, Damion Williams, all had some very impressive catches, and all had very impressive moves with the ball after the catch. The Booty haters of the last two years - ignorant and misinformed folks they may be - never seemed to grasp that Carson and Leinart threw to Kerry Colbert, Mike Williams, Steve Smith, and Dwayne Jarrett. The corps Booty had last year was the weak link of the team. I think this year's unit is going to be top 10 in the country. Sarkisian and Morton have been saying all summer that the receivers would be the surprise of the team; I can not wait.- I need a bit more confidence in Joe McKnight's ability to not fumble the ball. I suppose I have to have something negative to say.
- Tonight's UCLA/Tennessee game was hysterical. Nuff said.
Until we meet again, I am,
The Biggest College Football Lover of All Time